National Pension Service Grows Stake in KeyCorp $KEY

National Pension Service boosted its position in KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) by 21.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 240,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,193 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in KeyCorp were worth $4,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Community Bank purchased a new position in KeyCorp during the third quarter worth $27,000. Maseco LLP purchased a new position in KeyCorp during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new position in KeyCorp during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new position in KeyCorp during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in KeyCorp during the third quarter worth $32,000. 79.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KEY has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on KeyCorp from $24.50 to $22.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen cut KeyCorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on KeyCorp from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on KeyCorp from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on KeyCorp from $300.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other KeyCorp news, insider Angela G. Mago sold 22,826 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.66, for a total transaction of $494,411.16. Following the transaction, the insider owned 281,564 shares in the company, valued at $6,098,676.24. The trade was a 7.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

KeyCorp Price Performance

Shares of KeyCorp stock opened at $20.92 on Tuesday. KeyCorp has a twelve month low of $15.47 and a twelve month high of $23.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.83, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $21.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.70.

KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. KeyCorp had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 17.03%.The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that KeyCorp will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

KeyCorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.205 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. KeyCorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.31%.

KeyCorp declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 13% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About KeyCorp

KeyCorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, that operates through its primary banking subsidiary, KeyBank. It provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individual consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies and large corporations. KeyBank’s offerings span traditional deposit and lending products as well as more specialized financial solutions designed for commercial and institutional clients.

The company’s product and service mix includes retail banking products such as checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential mortgage lending, and auto financing.